This invention relates generally to electrical interconnection devices, and more particularly to sockets for interconnecting circuit boards.
Resilient interconnects for providing electrical connection between opposing surfaces of a printed circuit board are known. The resilient interconnects may be formed by combining a conductive material such as carbon particles with a resilient material such as a thermoplastic elastomer. In particular, the conductive particles are distributed throughout the resilient material of the interconnect. When the interconnect is deflected against a contact pad, some of the conductive particles push toward and possibly pierce the surface of the resilient material and form an electrical connection with the contact pad. Conductive particles distributed throughout the body of the resilient material provide electrical connection through the body of the resilient interconnect. The resilient interconnects may be disposed in holes or vias in the printed circuit board to provide electrical interconnection between the top and bottom surfaces of the printed circuit board.
Multiple printed circuit boards can be stacked surface-to-surface to enable interconnection via mated resilient interconnects. However, if the mated surfaces of the printed circuit boards are populated with components then the distance between adjacent stacked printed circuit boards must be increased. The electrical resistance exhibited by the resilient interconnect is generally greater per unit length than a conductive metal trace. Consequently, the resistance exhibited by the interconnect across a relatively large gap may be unacceptably high for some applications, such as where the components that populate the interconnected printed circuit boards have a large height dimension.